


The Vices of Brutus

by orphan_account



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: AU typical violence to come, Alternate Universe - Grand Theft Auto Setting, Fake AH Crew, Gen, Mole Ryan AU, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, and by that i mean he's been planted as someone to spy on the crew, more characters to be added as it goes on, mystery! drama! all of it soon to come!, not an actual mole
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-13 03:48:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21487852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: [DISCONTINUED]After five years off the grid, The Vagabond has resurfaced, looking for a job in the Fake AH Crew. Unbeknownst to them, his motives for doing so are much more malicious than he's letting on.Ryan wants his freedom, and he'll do anything to ensure he gets it, no matter the cost. Or so he says.
Relationships: Lindsay Tuggey Jones/Michael Jones
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	1. "Chance" Meeting

“I  _ told _ you fucks we couldn’t trust that tip--”

“Mogar--”

“But  _ noooo _ , it’s  _ fine _ Michael, it came from a trusted source,  _ Michael _ \--”

“ _ Mogar _ ,” Jack repeated, louder and firmer, forcing Michael to stop his rant and glare at her “Maybe you should  _ stop _ shouting your real name to our captors and  _ save it for later _ .”

“Jack, you’re so right! I shouldn’t shout my name in an  _ empty room _ while we wait to get  _ captured _ by the  _ fucking cops _ because everyone decided that Michael was an idiot who didn’t know  _ what the fuck he was talking about _ !”

“To be fair,” Gavin began, and Michael thought about how glad the brit should be that they’re all tied up, because if they weren’t, Michael would’ve throttled him “The techies and I all agreed the IP of the source was different, and that we should probably be careful. It’s not our fault that Team Short Temper decided to go in  _ guns blazing _ \--”

“Heyheyhey, this is  _ not _ my fault--” Jeremy started, and Jack sighed in the background in frustration. 

“I wasn’t just saying it was you! Michael is part of that team!”

“They started shooting  _ first _ , Gavin, Jeremy and I were  _ retalitating _ !”

“Maybe if you hadn’t had your guns out already, they  _ wouldn’t have started shooting _ \--” Jack started, and nobody seemed to notice the fact that they were getting louder and louder with each interjection.

“They would’ve!” Michael shouted back, and Gavin was all but squawking his reply.

“How do you know?!”

“Because it was a fucking trap!” Jeremy and Michael screamed simultaneously, and the whole conversation began to devolve into a shouting indecipherable nonsense, the only thing that could actually be heard from it being their names, the voices echoing throughout the empty warehouse and  _ pounding _ into Geoff’s brain. Finally, he had enough.

“Everybody,  _ shut the fuck up _ !” Geoff shouted over them all, silencing their argument “Use your  _ fucking _ codenames and  _ bitch _ about it later, we need to figure out a way out of this bullshit we’re in!”

“Oh, and what brilliant plan do  _ you  _ have,  _ Geoff _ ?” Michael asked “Because we have zero service, no backup and  _ no fucking weapons _ ! Oh, and the  _ cops _ are closing in.”

“I’ll think of one, just  _ use the fucking codenames, Mogar _ .”

“There’s no point! We’re all alone here--”

A single shot rang out in the dim light, and all five crew members jumped slightly, though the movement was hindered by the fact that they were zip-tied and secured to the floor. Within moments, there was a hard  _ thud _ somewhere close by, which they each slowly realized was likely someone tasked with guarding the five while the cops were on their way, because  _ nobody _ was  _ stupid _ enough to leave the Fake AH Crew alone and hope for the best.

Slowly, they began to hear echoed footsteps grow closer and closer, and just as Michael was ready to start shouting at his fellow crew members, they watched as the figure walked into view, anticipation and wariness thick in the air. 

Starting from the bottom, it could’ve been any old schmuck from the street that just  _ happened _ to waltz in, seeing as their apparent savior was wearing what could only be described as  _ dad shoes _ and jeans, but as their gazes wandered higher, past the black and blue jacket with the white stripes and directly into piercing blue eyes( the only part of their savior’s face not obscured by a black skull mask) they realized that this was something else  _ entirely _ .

“Your boss is right, you know,” The Vagabond said “You really  _ should _ use codenames.”

If you lived in Los Santos, whether you were in the underworld or not, you knew about the Vagabond. 

Nobody knew where he came from, or why he showed up in the city, or even  _ when _ , but he’s had his hand in just about every damn business in the city. At first, he was mostly hired to stand there and look menacing, but after a deal went sour, he proved his prowess in a fight, especially a fight against cops. 

Or at least, that’s what the files that were leaked from the LSPD had said. No name was attached to the files, no faces, no background, not even an  _ age _ , all they had were his actions and a warning:  _ Do not attempt to apprehend without explicit permission. Always assumed he is armed and dangerous. _

He used to be a hot commodity, but after what happened to The Roosters nearly five years ago (one that  _ still _ was sending aftershocks through the Los Santos underworld), The Vagabond had disappeared. Most had assumed he skipped town, others assumed he was dead.

It seemed that neither option was true.

“What,” Michael began as the Vagabond started cutting through Geoff’s restraints “The  _ fuck _ ?”

“ _ Dude _ , you’re  _ The Vagabond _ !” Jeremy said excitedly, practically bouncing as the masked man moved down the line, freeing each of them “You’re like.  _ The _ Vagabond!”

The Vagabond gave Jeremy a confused look, pausing his task for just a moment to do so. Jeremy realized rather quickly that  _ hey, this dude’s probably not used to having fans _ , and realized that he  _ was _ a fan of the dude’s work. This was going to be slightly awkward. 

“No offense meant, but what the  _ fuck _ are you doing here?” Geoff asked as he stood, rubbing his aching wrists “I mean, did you know we were here, orrrr…?”

As Gavin’s restraints were broken, freeing the final member of the present crew, The Vagabond stood, looking Geoff dead in the eyes as he spoke.

“Same fuckheads that lured you in tried the same trick on me. I saw them drag you all into trucks and I followed.”

“Okay, so that explains the  _ how _ , so I’m gonna ask  _ why _ ?” Michael said, crossing his arms in suspicion. Jeremy shot him a look, but Michael waved it off, not willing to back down, even when Vagabond’s cold gaze hit Michael.

There was a moment of tense silence, pierced only by the sound of several car doors closing in the distance, accompanied by yelling and warnings, something about “a mask-wearing murder”, which was likely refering to the man who had just saved the crew.

“Here and now  _ probably  _ isn’t the time and place to discuss it,” The Vagabond said “C’mon, I’ve got an eight-seater outside. Inconspicuous and roomy.”

Jack and Geoff exchanged a glance, and when Jack gave a shrug, Geoff looked back at the masked man.

“We don’t have much of a choice, do we? Let’s move.”

\---

The car ride had been mostly quiet, save for a few minutes towards the middle of the drive where Gavin and Michael had begun arguing again, but one glare from The Vagabond in the rearview mirror had them clamming up fairly quickly, though Michael had seemed more annoyed than afraid.

Jack was sitting shotgun, giving The Vagabond directions to their nearest hideout, while Geoff had been relegated to the backseat, texting his to-be successor that yeah, they were okay, and that they had met The Vagabond, and  _ yeah _ ,  _ Jeremy nearly came-- _

Jeremy smacked Geoff on the arm,  _ hard _ , and Geoff yelped in both surprise and pain.

“What the fuck, dude?” Geoff shouted, earning a hard glare from both Jack and the driver. 

“Delete that!” Jeremy shouted, crawling over Geoff in an attempt to reach the older man’s phone, which was now being held just out of reach “That is  _ not  _ what happened and you  _ know _ it!”

“It  _ totally _ was!” Geoff retorted, ignoring Gavin’s indignant squawking as Geoff laid back over the brit.

“It  _ wasn’t _ ! I reacted the  _ same _ way when I met the rest of you assholes!”

“Yeah! You almost came when you met us, too!”

Geoff and Jeremy continued to squabble, Gavin and Michael chiming in from time-to-time to team up against the shorter man, leaving Jack and The Vagabond to suffer up front as the only two adults in the car. Jack couldn’t help but glance at the man sitting next to her every so often, taking in what little humanity The Vagabond showed. Black straps that kept his mask secured to his head criss-crossed over his blonde hair, which Jack’s eyes followed down to the very bottom of a rather short ponytail, which showed evidence of The Vagabond’s hair having been dyed black at least once before. She guessed that, once out of the ponytail, his hair was likely  _ just _ at shoulder length, if not a bit shorter.

“If you have something to say,” The Vagabond said coldly “Then say it or stop staring.”

Jack made her best attempt to not to seem startled, not looking away, but letting out a small apology. The Vagabond didn’t respond, simply continuing to drive, his silence unsettling Jack even more than the cold statement. She looked out the windshield, pointing out another turn to take as she racked her mind for something to both potentially drown out the children fighting in the back and stop the awkward silence between the two of them upfront.

“Why’d you help us out back there?” Jack asked carefully “I know Geoff and I used to be part of The Roosters, but you don’t exactly strike me as someone who would help someone out because of old connections.”

The Vagabond didn’t say anything for a minute, and Jack thought she had been ignored or she had pissed him off. She was about to apologize, say he didn’t have to say anything if he didn’t want to, when the man sighed.

“You know most of us Roosters split up after what happened,” The Vagabond started, his voice quiet “Burnie, Gus, Matt, and Joel tried their best to get them back to prominence, build up their power base again, but most others skipped town or started working for others, or in your case, yourselves--”

“What about you? You just disappeared.”

“It doesn’t matter what I’ve been doing,” The Vagabond said, and while it wasn’t  _ explicitly _ threatening, the way he said it told Jack not to push the subject “What matters is that I’ve been out of the game for five years. I want to get back in. The Roosters are done for, and the other crews of the city don’t want my services. I never worked directly with you or Geoff, but I figured your crew would be the best place for me to get my foot in the door.”

Jack glanced back at Geoff, who had left the argument for a moment to listen in once Jack had asked the question. The lads were convinced that Jack and Geoff had some sort of telepathic connection, but honestly, the two just had connection. A connection and  _ very _ similar thought processes.

“We’ll talk about that later, then,” Jack said, turning back around to watch the road as soon as she had gotten a nod from Geoff “Once we’ve cleaned up a bit and done a proper check-in.”

The Vagabond gave a non-committal hum, the car eventually falling back into silence as they finally pulled into the hideout, an old house that anyone would’ve written off as being owned by some weird old dude who didn’t know the meaning of property value. It was a perfect place to lay low, at least for the time being. 

Jack told the Lads to go upstairs first, get cleaned up and check for wounds that Caleb would need to patch up later, while she, Geoff, and The Vagabond wandered into the kitchen, where Geoff started making a pot of coffee. Jack took a seat at the brunch bar separating the kitchen from the rest of the house, The Vagabond opting to stand just off to the side. Once all three had warm mugs of coffee, it was time to get down to business. 

“So,” Geoff started, lowering his mug as he spoke, “You want a place in our crew, huh?”

“Yeah,” The Vagabond replied “Or at least a few jobs to do until I can rebuild my reputation.”

Jack cringed sympathetically. She remembered how hard it had been for she and Geoff to get  _ anyone _ to work with them after what happened with The Roosters, and how lucky they had been that the Lads had either been desperate enough or, in Jeremy’s case, starry-eyed enough to join them. Even with the six of them, most hadn’t taken them seriously until their heists started getting borderline outlandish, sparking media attention and gaining the ire of the LSPD. The Vagabond had been gone for almost the  _ entire  _ five years that they had spent building their crew, of course he would need help getting his own brand out there again.

Okay, it was starting to get ridiculous to keep calling him The Vagabond.

“Your name was Bryan, right? Or something like that.” Jack asked, and The Vagabond looked at her, seeming to somehow be both surprised and offended at the same time.

“Ryan. Surprised you remembered. Or at least, tried to remember.”

“I make it a habit to remember people I used to work with, albeit indirectly.”

“If you two are done reminiscing,” Geoff cut in “We gotta discuss this a bit more thoroughly.”

With a nod from Jack and a glare from Ryan, Geoff continued.

“Listen, I know we all used to be Roosters, but we’re not anymore. This is the Fake AH Crew, and we have no fuckin’ idea where the hell you’ve been, and you don’t exactly seem inclined to tell us, so I don’t exactly think I can trust you much at the moment.”

“Geoff, come on,” Jack said quietly “Least we can do is help him out a bit, let him prove his worth.” 

Geoff gave Jack a look, and Jack responded with one of her own. She didn’t trust Ryan either, but they had to at least pretend to be open to the idea of him joining, considering the situation they were in. Discussion could come later.

Geoff nodded, and he understood.

“Fine. We’ll give him a number to communicate with us, but for the rest of tonight, I want him  _ out _ of here.”

“Fine by me,” Ryan said “I was going to leave soon anyways. Got a few things to take care of back at my place.”

“Oh?” Jack prompted “Like what?”

Ryan glared at her coldly, and she threw up her hands in a placating gesture. 

“Alright, no personal questions. Got it.”

They exchanged information, none of them talking much outside of it. At least, not until Jack and Geoff watched Ryan’s car pull away, tail lights slowly disappearing into the distance.

“You don’t trust him either, then.” Geoff said. It wasn’t a question, but Jack answered anyways.

“No. The rescue was a bit  _ too _ convenient.”

“What do you think?”

“A ploy to get our attention and trust, maybe,” Jack sipped her coffee mug thoughtfully before continuing “I think he’s desperate, and desperate men are dangerous ones.”

“He could be working for another crew, trying to take us down from the inside.”

“I don’t think so. He would’ve just killed us then and there if that were the case.”

“Trevor and the others would’ve taken our place then. He gets inside, he can take us all out.”

“We’ll watch him. He tries anything, he’s outnumbered and outgunned.”

Geoff was frowning, deep and annoyed, and Jack sighed at the expression. She reached over, placing a hand onto his shoulder.

“I don’t trust him much, but what if he really  _ is _ just a desperate guy trying to make a comeback? We can’t just turn him away.”

“I know,” Geoff conceded with a soft sigh “I’m just… Worried.”

“I know. We’ll be okay, Geoff. We made it out of a bad situation once, we can do it again, okay?”

Geoff took a moment to respond, listening to the distant sound of the Lads arguing with each other from within the house with a fond smile, though there was still a fair amount of worry in his eyes.

“Yeah… Okay Jack.”

“Good. Now let's get inside and keep those idiots from killing each other.”

\---

Ryan waited till he was about halfway back to town to pull over to the side of the road, turning off his lights and pulling up his mask. The darkened streets offered a nice cover for him, though the emptiness gave him no real need for it. Still, it was always better to be safe than sorry, a fact that Ryan had ingrained into his mind over the past five years.

He took out his burner cell, dialing the number he had committed to memory as best as he could. 

“Haywood?” The woman’s voice was only slightly garbled over the cell’s speaker, but he knew it too well for his own liking “You better have some good news to be calling me at this hour.”

“I do, chief,” Ryan said, looking back down to road he had just come from, as if he could see the hideout still “I’m in. At least, I’ve got a trial.”

“Good,” the police chief said, and he could almost see her sharp smile as she spoke “Report to the station as soon as possible for the information exchange. I’ll be there to let you in.”

“Of course.”

She hung up first, leaving Ryan in the silence of the night with nothing but his own thoughts to keep him company. That was dangerous for him. He thought too much about what he was doing, how far he had fallen, and he would start to get cold feet. He couldn’t afford cold feet. Not with so much on the line.

He had a job, and he was going to see it through.

He was going to take down the Fake AH Crew, and they would never see it coming.


	2. Lads and Liars

The Lads were not necessarily the youngest members in the Fake AH Crew as a whole, but very few people in Los Santos thought of the potential behind-the-scenes and other additional members, instead opting to focus on the “main five”: “The Kingpin”, “The Pilot”, “The Golden Boy”, “Mogar”, and, as of about two years ago, “Rimmy Tim”. 

“Rimmy Tim” himself had once been hired only as potential backup and other behind-the-scenes work, mostly acting as a bodyguard for the other members if no one else was available or occasionally helping the leaders plan their more over-the-top heists. Originally, “The Rose” was the fifth member, a sniper that the crew had picked up a little while after Rimmy was brought on, but Rose had struck out on his own, splitting from the crew on amicable terms to do so, and a few days later, Rimmy became a fully-fledged member.

Rimmy Tim himself, better known to the crew as Jeremy, had been living the dream ever since. Or at least, to _ him _ it was a dream. Sure, there was always the light to moderate bullying, and if he had a nickel for every height joke made about him he wouldn’t even _ need _ a job, but he was working with people he looked up to, people who had been knocked to the ground and got back up, spitting blood into the world’s face and saying “fuck you”. Jeremy respected that, seeing as it was something he used to do fairly often in his underground boxing days. 

Above all, he loved his little dysfunctional crew, always excited for their next round of heists and mayhem.

“God _ dammit _, Gavin! Quit bumping into me while you’re getting dressed!”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! I tripped!”

That didn’t stop him from wanting to throttle them sometimes, though.

“Can you two _ please _ be quiet?” Jeremy whined, grabbing his extra pillow and using it to try and muffle any further yelling “I’m too tired to listen to you two argue any more tonight.”

He heard Gavin mumble something that sounded like an apology, but Michael didn’t say anything. It didn’t matter much, though, seeing as the arguing _ did _ stop. He knew it would eventually, but he was _ way _ too tired after the excitement of that night to listen to the old married couple bicker, and he knew that if _ he _ hadn’t stopped it, Jack and/or Geoff would’ve, and it would’ve involved a lot _ more _ yelling. 

Jeremy let out a groan, realizing that now he had been woken up enough to speak, it was going to take him forever to go _ back _ to sleep. He laid on his back, staring up at the ceiling of the safehouse bedroom that he and the other Lads had claimed for themselves. 

Noticing the now annoyed and awake Jeremy, Gavin sauntered over to the bed before unceremoniously flopping onto it, as well as right on top of Jeremy himself. The shorter man grunted as the british twig he called a friend did so, then again when Michael proceeded to flop on top of _ both _ of them.

“Looks like it’s a lad pile tonight, boys.” Gavin said, and Jeremy heard his smile more than saw it. Jeremy sighed, but he smiled fondly.

“I fucking hate you guys.”

“We’d be dead by now if that was true.” Michael pointed out, and Jeremy made a noise to concede that point. Of course, that didn’t stop Jeremy from using all his strength to flip the other lads onto their backs on the other side of the bed, eliciting a squawk from Gavin and slight screech from Michael. Then, all three lads were laughing themselves breathless.

By the time it died down and the three were actually supposed to be tired enough to sleep, Jeremy found himself still wide-awake, staring at the ceiling as he thought about what Jack and Geoff had talked to them about just an hour or so before. Evidently, he wasn’t the only one.

“What do you guys think about this whole Vagabond nonsense?” Gavin asked from the other side of Michael “You think we can trust him?”

“_ Fuck _ no,” Michael responded instantly “Even Geoff and Jack think we can’t.”

“I mean... Jack _ said _to give him the benefit of the doubt.” Jeremy said, gesturing with his hand vaguely, causing Michael to scoff. Jeremy felt Gavin shift, the movement causing the bedsheets to tug and pull.

“I think I’m with Michael on this one, Lil’ J,” Gavin interjected “Something about this is off.”

“See! Even Gavin has a bad feeling about it!”

“So what?” Jeremy asked, sitting up slightly to look at the two other men “Just because you’re both paranoid doesn’t mean you’re right.”

“Jeremy, the last time Gavin had a bad feeling like this, _ I _joined the crew. You remember how that happened?”

Jeremy sighed. 

“You tried to kill Geoff and Jack--”

“I tried to fuckin’ kill Geoff and Jack!” Michael said “And every time since, whenever Gavin has a bad feeling, we _ listen _ to it, because he’s a fucking _ psychic _.”

“He’s _ not _ a psychic, Michael.”

“Well he might as well be! He’s got a sixth fucking sense for danger, so when _ he _ says something’s not right, we _ listen _ , Jeremy. Neither of us trust this guy, and just because he used to be one of your idols doesn’t mean you _ should _.”

“That’s _ not _ why I trust him!” If Jeremy hadn’t been wide-awake already, he certainly was at that point, ready to defend himself, sleep-be-damned “And I don’t even _ trust _ him! I’m _ just _ saying, cut the dude a _ little _slack, you know?”

“Whatever. I’m still with Geoff and Gavin on this, Vagabond can’t be trusted, end of story.”

The door slammed open, startling all three lads and nearly causing Jeremy to fall out of the bed. In the now-illuminated doorway, a very tired, very _ annoyed _ looking Geoff stood, glaring at them.

“It is _too_ _goddamn late_ for you three to be arguing and keeping us awake,” The Kingpin growled “Go the _fuck_ to sleep, or _Jack_ will be the one telling you next.”

With that, Geoff slammed the door, and the lads, having a rather healthy sense of self-preservation in that moment, decided to shut the hell up and try to sleep.

\---

As Ryan walked into the back door of the police station, Vagabond outfit stashed away in a duffle bag in the back of his car, his plainclothes making him feel itchy and exposed, he already knew that the corruption of the LSPD was, somehow, even worse than it had been five years ago.

Five years ago, Ryan had been left behind, thrown in jail, and, in a moment of desperation and anger, agreed to help the LSPD destroy the only rival they really had in the city: The Roosters. Both wanted territory, protection money, drug money, the ability to pick and choose who did what and when, and, back then, The Roosters had been winning for some time.

And then, everything went so, _ so _ wrong, and it was all Ryan’s fault. 

He had run away after the world had come crashing down, left San Andreas and The Roosters and the LSPD behind, hoping to start a new life, whether it was a mercenary or a bodyguard or whatever life threw at him, but five years went by, and he found himself being pulled back to where it all started.

He should’ve just stayed in Alabama. 

“You James?” A gruff voice pulled Ryan from his thoughts, and he glowered at the police officer who was stationed outside the police chief’s door.

“It’s Ryan. The chief is expecting me.”

“Oh, I know. I was just about to head home when she told me to plant my ass here and wait for you,” The officer (whose name tag proudly displayed the name “COAL”) leaned in, hissing as he continued to speak “I know _ exactly _ who you are, _ Vagabond _ . Every cop here does. You try _ anything _\--”

“I _ won’t _,” Ryan said defiantly, his voice a low growl “Now let me the fuck in so we can both get our asses home.”

Coal obviously didn’t want to, but he opened the door nonetheless, and Ryan stepped in to greet the new chief of police, who had dragged him right back into the mess of a life that he had before.

“James Haywood,” The chief said, her smile feigning warmth as she held her hand out for him to shake “It’s good to _ finally _ meet you.”

“It’s Ryan.” He corrected, sitting down in a chair on the other side of the desk, completely ignoring her hand.

“Of course it is. You can call me Cinder, or even just Cin for now, since codenames seem to be _ all _ the rage as of late.”

“_ Right _ ,” Ryan said, leaning back and crossing his arms “First _ coal _ , now _ Cinder_, when did the LSPD hire a bunch of arsonists?”

The joke was, evidently (though unsurprisingly), not funny to “Cin”, and Ryan sighed.

“Let’s just get this over with, alright?” Ryan asked, not caring if he sounded nonchalant or annoyed “I want to get home and _ sleep _.”

“You and I both, Mr. Haywood. First things first, congratulations on your infiltration! I’m hoping you have some information for me?”

“Information? Seriously?”

“Yes, that’s why I _ hired _ you, Haywood--”

“Didn’t exactly hire me…” Ryan muttered, but if Cin noticed, she didn’t care, opting to continue instead.

“You get me information, I act on it, and then _ you _ get a free pass! A get out of jail free card, if you will. Now, what have you got for me?”

“I don’t know what you want from me, Cin. I _ just _ got in. I don’t have much I can give you.”

_ The location of a safehouse, names, basic relationships-- _

“You know what? I’ll just ask right out: Do you have any _ names _, Haywood?”

_ Geoff Ramsey and Jack Pattillo. _

“Only their first names. Geoff, Jack, Gavin, Michael, and Jeremy.”

“You worked with at least _ two _ of them for several years, and you never bothered to learn their names?”

“Like I said the last time, I know what they _ tell _ me, and since I never _ actually _ worked with these two, I never got more than a first name.”

_ Not a total lie. He never did work with them directly, but that didn’t mean he never learned their names. _

Cin frowned, and Ryan knew she wasn’t happy with his results. Good. He hated her, her and the rest of the damn thugs that called themselves the Los Santos Police Department. Of course, it didn’t really _ matter _ how much he hated her. She was the only ticket to freedom he had, the only chance to not end up rotting amongst those he had turned on, the only chance he had at getting the _ hell _ out of San Andreas and _ never _ looking back.

Which, unfortunately, meant he had to please her with his results.

“Look,” Ryan said carefully “It’s only been one meeting. I’m on a trial run now, which means limited contact, limited knowledge, limited jobs--”

“I am _ aware _ of how trial runs work, _ James _ ,” The chief snarled, and Ryan had to force down the bubble of anger and murderous intent as she spoke “Get to the _ point _.”

“I’m not gonna have much for you for a while, _ chief _ , I need _ time _, just like before.”

“It took you less than a month to help us take down The Roosters!”

“I didn’t have to go on a _ trial run _ for them! I didn’t have to build trust or learn secrets, I already had them!”

Ryan realized raising his voice was likely an unwise move on his part, but he was starting to get frustrated with this new chief. The woman before her had been _ experienced _, or at least smart enough to know that she couldn’t just get everything served up on a silver platter. Now? The new chief was acting like a child who just got told “no” for the first time in their life.

She was a _ brat _ , and Ryan wondered just why the _ hell _ she had been chosen to take the last woman’s place.

“Fine,” Cin finally said after a long pause “You’ll have the time you _ need _ , but the moment I find out you don’t want to help us anymore, not _ only _ are you gonna be at the fucking _ top _ of the LSPD’s wanted list, but every fucking crew in this city is going to know _ exactly _ who you are, James, and _ exactly _ what you did. Do you understand?”

Ryan gritted his teeth, clenching his fist against his thigh as he shoved all thoughts and dreams of just _ blowing the damn place up and watching it burn to the ground _.

“Of course.”

“Of course?”

“Of course,” Ryan said, wanting to puke as he spoke, but managed to bite it back long enough to finish with “..._ sir _.”

The chief smiled, all knives, all loathing.

“Good,” she said lightly, as if they didn’t hate each other “Now, get the hell out of my office and be a big bad guy.”

Resisting the urge to punch the wall, he did exactly that.


	3. Discontinued

Hey guys, Twilly (the author) here!

I'm afraid that I'm going to be discontinuing this story. The plot I had planned out wasn't really fun to write anymore, and while I know y'all were excited to see where it went, I didn't want it to go further if my heart wasn't in it. 

However! While Vices of Brutus will no longer be a thing, that doesn't mean I'm completely dumping everything from it. I plan on writing other FAHC fics that incorporate a LOT of ideas I had for the characters in this fic, to create more a "Vices FAHCverse" as opposed to one big fic. Now, some things will be different (Ryan's not a mole for the LSPD being the big one), but many of the backstories will remain the same!

So! TLDR: VOB over, new FAHC fics to come and act as sort of "spiritual spin-offs", and hopefully we all enjoy it!

Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out my kings au fic if you like New <strike>Kid</strike> King on the block Jeremy Dooley, magic, and Matt Bragg. And I guess the other guys too lmao 

**Author's Note:**

> check me out on tumblr!
> 
> fandom-trash224.tumblr.com


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